Venture Capital spending is on track to be higher than it has been in years, but fewer companies are getting funded

Venture capitalists have been on a spending spree so far in 2017, but have been funding significantly fewer companies than in the past. According to data from PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, charted here by Statista, the number of deals that closed in the first nine months of 2017 is lower than it has been since 2011. Companies lucky enough to be part of these deals are being valued a lot higher than their predecessors, and are getting a lot more capital as a result.

One of the biggest trends in venture capital so far this year has been the uptick in initial coin offerings, or ICOs. Companies are able to raise massive amounts of capital quickly by selling huge amounts of cryptocurrency tokens. Some critics are wary of the trend however, pointing out that much of the currency is being funneled into young startups that lack the mettle to become successful.